Honda to introduce small car in India

The company aims to sell over 150,000 units of automobiles in India by the end of 2010, reports Deepak Joshi.

Japanese automobile major Honda Motor Company president and chief executive officer Takeo Fukui on Tuesday announced that the company would introduce a small-size vehicle in India and construct a second automobile plant with an aim to produce and sell more than 150,000 units of automobiles in India by the end of 2010.

The move to enter the small car segment is a part of Honda strategy to capture 10 per cent of the Indian car market by 2010. Honda Siel Cars India General Manager Marketing, G Sen, told Hindustan Times that the location of the greenfield plant would be identified by the end of the current financial year. "With our current portfolio of cars taking most of the expanded capacity, the greenfield plant will address to the demand for small car," he added.

In his year-end address in Tokyo, Fukui announced a series of initiatives and expansion plans for Honda operations in Japan and across the world. "Annual automobile production capacity in India will be doubled to 100,000 units by the end of 2007," he said. The expansion to 100,000 units at Honda Siel Cars India's Greater Noida plant has already begun and is progressing as per schedule.

Honda would further accelerate its effort to strengthen the core characteristics that make Honda unique in each business area in order to continue creating new value and providing products and services which are beyond customers' expectations, he added.

Honda current expansion at Greater Noida facility to 1 lakh units will entail an investment of Rs 400 crore and is expected to be completed by next year. The establishment of a greenfield project is expected to cost additional $200 million, according to industry assessment.